Lebanon Township Environmental & Open Space Commission Agenda

Transcription

1 Lebanon Township Environmental & Open Space Commission Agenda October 1 st, 2018 CALL TO ORDER In compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, notice has been given that the Lebanon Township Environmental and Open Space Commission conducts its regular business meetings on the first Monday of each month at 7:00 PM in the main meeting room of the municipal building. Notice of this meeting was published in the Hunterdon County Democrat and the monthly agendas are posted on the bulletin board of the municipal building. STANDARD AGENDA Topic Kickoff, Roll Call & Connecting Moment Presentation of Minutes Call meeting to order and take roll call. Review and approval of July Meeting Minutes. All commission members can approve except for Mr. Newman, Mr. Collett, Mr. Henriksen and Ms. Lawler who were not present at the July meeting. Review and approval of August Meeting Minutes. All commission members can approve except for Ms. Petzinger, Ms. Hardy and Mr. Mickley. Old Business New Business a) Fall Fest Readout (Henriksen) b) Green Acres Program Inspection Report a. Schaaf 3:30PM) and Nicholson Exploratory Hikes b. Green Acres Response Letter c. Shaaf, Nicholson and Hendra Letters c) Goracy Trail see Attachment 1 a) Hunterdon County Strategic Parks and Open Space Plan a. Open for public comment until October 18th; we should decide if we want to provide comment as a Township b. Outlines strategic plan for country parks and recreation; see Attachment 2 for major recommendations c. We have the 5 th most preserved open space out of 26 county municipalities d. Plan proposes 224 additional acres to be acquired, appears that recent acquisition of Pelio would reduce this number e. Overall, proposes additional 5K acres preserved by county to add to 8K already preserved f. Teetertown Preserve/Mountain Farm identified as general use park and targeted for future development ; do we have concern about this? g. Two primary trails defined for LT: 1) Teetertown to Columbia Trail, and 2) Point Mt. through Voorhees to Columbia Trail h. Has LT contributed to the discussion thus far?

2 Newsletter Winter newsletter deadline is November 1 st. Articles on the docket include: None at this time Backlog: Invasive Species, Christian Crossroads Dam Removal/History Correspondence Acknowledge and share any formal correspondence received by EOSC chair or informal correspondence received by EOSC members. All correspondence when possible is scanned and stored digitally in a public access Google Drive folder at Notice of Application for NJDEP Approval of Activities within Freshwater Wetlands 42 Forge Hill Road (Block 69, Lot 1), Beverly Koehler August 8, 2018 Attachment 1: Reports Block 36, Lot 17 - Goracy Trail As per Ms. Hardy on 01-Oct-2018, the status of the project remains the same as the landowner continues to work towards finalizing her property survey before proceeding with the LT project. She remains supportive and we will continue to follow up with her. Attachment 2: Snapshot of Major Recommendations from Executive Summary

3 Lebanon Township Environmental & Open Space Commission Minutes October 1 st, 2018 ROLL CALL EOSC Member Role Attendance Adam Duckworth Chairman, Planning Board Liaison X Sharon Petzinger Member X Warren Newman Member X Erik Jan Henriksen Member X Nancy Lawler Member X Sharon Hardy Member X Adam Mickley Member X Kathy Koch Alternate 1 No Marty Collett Alternate 2 X MEETING MINUTES Topic Kickoff, Roll Call & Connecting Moment Presentation of Minutes Call meeting to order and take roll call. Minutes: The meeting was called to order at 7:05PM. In addition to EOSC members noted above, volunteer, Mike Chen, Committeeman Laul and Mayor Schmidt were in attendance. Review and approval of July Meeting Minutes. All commission members can approve except for Mr. Newman, Mr. Collett, Mr. Henriksen and Ms. Lawler who were not present at the July meeting. Review and approval of August Meeting Minutes. All commission members can approve except for Ms. Petzinger, Ms. Hardy and Mr. Mickley. Minutes: Mr. Duckworth asked if there were any comments on the proposed minutes from the July and August meetings. There were none. A motion to approve July Meeting Minutes was made by Ms. Petzinger, seconded by Ms. Hardy and unanimously approved. A motion to approve August Meeting Minutes was made by Mr. Newman, seconded by Ms. Lawler and unanimously approved. Old Business d) Fall Fest Readout (Henriksen) e) Green Acres Program Inspection Report a. Schaaf 3:30PM) and Nicholson Exploratory Hikes b. Green Acres Response Letter c. Shaaf, Nicholson and Hendra Letters f) Goracy Trail see Attachment 1 Minutes: Mr. Duckworth thanked Mr. Henriksen and Mr. Mickley for attending

4 Fall Fest and hosting an EOSC station. He asked Mr. Henriksen to provide a summary on how it went. Mr. Henriksen stated that they received a good amount of foot traffic and there was a lot of interest in the open space toss game amongst the kids. A connection was made with a resident who was interested in helping us build trails and who lives near the Nicholson property so perhaps there is an opportunity for him to help steward that property. Mr. Henriksen stated that he has a number of ideas for next year. The event could be a good opportunity to survey residents about topics, such as deer hunting, or to provide education on what to plant and what not to plant (e.g. bamboo). He also stated that it would be good to market our volunteer opportunities. Regarding Red Mill Race Preserve, Mr. Henriksen stated that he did connect with Lynn Earhardt, who works at Phillipsburg Memorial Company. Using 19 letters at 3 height, engraving the millstone as a nameplate for Red Mill Race Preserve would cost at least $570; that is with one of us bringing it in. Mr. Henriksen will check out the millstones at the Preserve and confirm exactly how the lettering would fit on them. It was noted that we still need to consider how to install it. Do we set it in cement or attach it to something? Ms. Hardy asked if we want the words Lebanon Township on there, as well. It was agreed that we would want that if it wasn t cost prohibitive. Schmidt - Signs went up today on the Cutri-french property. Also gave us Green Acres access point signs and have been put up on each end of the trail access. Eldon s opinion was that trails were straight. Gravel pile on Goracy was supposedly moved. Mr. Duckworth stated that Committeeman Laul agreed to lead a hike on the Schaaf property on Sunday at 3:30PM. Mr. Duckworth asked for anyone who wished to attend to let him know. He then asked if anyone is familiar with the Nicholson property. Nobody was. Mr. Henriksen said he would connect with the recent volunteer to see if he was familiar with it. Mr. Duckworth stated he hoped to schedule a walk of Nicholson for the following Sunday. Regarding the Goracy Trail acquisition, Ms. Hardy stated that Ms. Giaquinto was hoping to connect with Eldon to determine how best to close the survey. New Business b) Hunterdon County Strategic Parks and Open Space Plan a. Open for public comment until October 18th; we should decide if we want to provide comment as a Township b. Outlines strategic plan for country parks and recreation; see Attachment 2 for major recommendations c. We have the 5 th most preserved open space out of 26 county municipalities d. Plan proposes 224 additional acres to be acquired, appears that recent acquisition of Pelio would reduce this number e. Overall, proposes additional 5K acres preserved by county to add to 8K already preserved f. Teetertown Preserve/Mountain Farm identified as general use park and targeted for future development ; do we have concern about this? g. Two primary trails defined for LT: 1) Teetertown to Columbia Trail, and 2) Point Mt. through Voorhees to Columbia Trail h. Has LT contributed to the discussion thus far?

5 Minutes: Mr. Duckworth introduced the topic of the Hunterdon County Strategic Parks and Open Space Plan and provided some additional voiceover on the bullet points noted in the agenda. Ms. Lawler stated that the preservation targets for Lebanon Township seem low and that it is unclear how acquisitions in progress are included. Mr. Schmidt stated that we should think of this as a general forecast and would have to react accordingly when specific properties become available. Mayor Schmidt said that it would be good to clarify if this will be used to prioritize how county grants will be awarded for municipal acquisitions. Ms. Petzinger stated that the plan talks about land stewardship and deer management and asked if we should state our support or need to discuss further. Mayor Schmidt suggested an idea to have the county manage hunting permits for municipal parcels. Mr. Chen asked if hunting permits on municipal land would be limited to Township residents. He stated people come from all over for hunting permits in Hunterdon County and has seen people sleep outside to be first in line for those permits. It was an open question of if and how permits would be restricted. Considering the robust discussion, Mr. Duckworth asked if the team supported an effort to submit comments to the County on behalf of the EOSC. There was broad support for this. Mr. Duckworth asked if there were two volunteers who would help him with this. Ms. Lawler and Ms. Petzinger volunteered to help prepare the comments. Ms. Petzinger stated that she is planning on going to the public hearing and would be able to speak as a representative of EOSC if desired. Mayor Schmidt stated that the comments could be submitted to Township Committee as an FYI for their meeting on October 17 th. Newsletter Winter newsletter deadline is November 1 st. Articles on the docket include: None at this time Backlog: Invasive Species, Christian Crossroads Dam Removal/History Minutes: Mr. Duckworth reminded the team of the upcoming newsletter deadline. He asked if there were any topics that should be a focus for the team. There were none.

6 Correspondence Acknowledge and share any formal correspondence received by EOSC chair or informal correspondence received by EOSC members. All correspondence when possible is scanned and stored digitally in a public access Google Drive folder at Notice of Application for NJDEP Approval of Activities within Freshwater Wetlands 42 Forge Hill Road (Block 69, Lot 1), Beverly Koehler August 8, 2018 Minutes: Mr. Duckworth proceeded around the table asked each member if there were any final updates or topics to discuss. Ms. Lawler stated that the 45 th Annual Environmental Congress is scheduled for Friday, October 12 th. Ms. Petzinger and Ms. Lawler both stated they may attend. Mr. Duckworth stated that EOSC would be happy to cover the cost for attendance. The event will be at Mercer County College. Ms. Lawler stated that at the end of March, an environmental conference will be hosted at Centenary College by the Delaware River Watershed Initiative. She will share additional details when she has them. Mayor Schmidt stated that the Township has completely drawn down our Green Acres grant. He stated the new grant window opens up soon but doesn t know the exact date yet. This would be for a planning incentive grant. We could target a certain number of properties in the OSRP. Ms. Lawler stated that NJ Conservation Foundation may know the date. Mayor Schmidt said he checked already and they do not know. The team acknowledged our intent to apply for a new grant when the application becomes available. Ms. Lawler stated that we should spring for an event to celebrate the Pelio closing. Mayor Schmidt stated that representatives for Camp Bernie attended a Planning Board meeting for approval of a pavilion. He learned that the County and Camp Bernie have scheduled a meeting to discuss a trail easement. Mayor Schmidt also stated that the Natural Lands Trust has stepped up to say they would be willing to manage the Buffalo Hollow Road property. Funding is available and the landowner has filled out the planning application. He also stated that the appraisal has been completed on the Denton Property and the County continues to be in talks with the landowner. Mr. Duckworth thanked Mike for the updates and asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:20PM. Mr. Henriksen made the motion, Ms. Petzinger seconded and it was unanimously approved.